Rights group urges independent probe of Wawa Barracks, DSS, Tiger Base and IRT facilities, citing multiple cases
The Rule of Law and Accountability Advocacy Centre (RULAAC) has petitioned the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice to order an independent investigation into alleged enforced disappearances, torture, prolonged incommunicado detention, custodial deaths and disputed prosecutions linked to security operations in Southeast Nigeria.
The petition, dated 27 October 2026 and signed by RULAAC Executive Director Okechukwu Nwanguma, also asks the Federal Ministry of Justice to secure the release of persons unlawfully held, enforce court orders, and provide compensation and rehabilitation to survivors.
RULAAC serves as the initial secretariat of the Southeast Human Rights Bureau (SEHRB). The petition follows a 17 October press conference in Enugu, themed “The Missing, the Detained and the Dead,” convened by SEHRB, the Oganihu Igbo Development Foundation and the International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law (Intersociety).
Nwanguma said RULAAC later received written accounts, WhatsApp correspondence, case updates, and court documents that supplemented the testimonies. He said the group brought the matter to the Attorney-General’s office “precisely because the relevant State institutions possess the records, authority and investigative capacity needed to establish the truth.”
“These cases concern the State’s ability and willingness to account for people deprived of liberty in its name,” Nwanguma said.
The petition details cases involving arrests allegedly carried out by the Department of State Services (DSS), police tactical units including Tiger Base, and the Intelligence Response Team (IRT). Wives of Chidiebere Echefu, Ifeanyi Thomas Arinze and Okechukwu Paul say their husbands were taken in 2021 and that they were denied information about their whereabouts. For Arinze and Paul, former detainees reportedly sighted them at Wawa Barracks in Niger State in 2026, which the petition describes as tracing leads requiring verification.
Another case involves Ozioma Elizabeth Onyeaka, a teacher from Awkuzu, Anambra State, whose family says she vanished after a night church programme and was unaccounted for for about five years and three months. The family later learned she faced terrorism-related proceedings at the Federal High Court in Abuja. An advocate alleges she was returned to Wawa after refusing to plead guilty, an allegation the petition says requires examination of the court’s and the facility’s records.
The petition also cites the case of Esther Egbom, detained after a DSS raid on a church in Aba on 12 February 2025. Her daughter alleges her brother was beaten during the operation and later died. The petition references an FCT High Court judgment (suit FCT/HC/M/4942/2025) and a 2 March 2026 production order. Her family says she was convicted of harbouring a terrorist and sentenced to five years without a lawyer, and an advocate reports she is held at Suleja Custodial Centre.
In Agboje Gladys Ngozi v The Nigerian Police Force and The Inspector General of Police (FHC/ABJ/CS/1546/2022), Justice Z. B. Abubakar on 6 October 2023 found violations of her fundamental rights and awarded N30 million in damages, along with an order for a public apology. The petition says the judgment remains unimplemented and asks for confirmation of any appeal or stay.
Advocates also report that Abel Onyedikachi Ugwuoke was sentenced to life imprisonment, Ezugwu Paul Ejike to 40 years, and Samuel Azolibe Onu to 20 years after an allegedly coerced plea, all without adequate legal representation. In a separate account, attributed to Sunday Ifedi, who was released after more than four years, his wife, Calista, is alleged to have died at Wawa Barracks and been buried in a shallow grave. The petition seeks forensic recovery and identification of her remains.
The petition further covers alleged raids on white garment and Sabbath church communities around Orlu in February 2021, torture claims by survivors, and the disappearance of an Anambra Vigilante Group operative.
RULAAC wants a special independent investigation with expertise in criminal investigation, forensic medicine, detention monitoring and survivor protection, insulated from agencies under complaint.
“Affected agencies may supply evidence and respond to allegations, but should not control investigations into their own alleged misconduct,” Nwanguma said.
The group also seeks immediate preservation of custody registers, CCTV footage, court production logs, medical and mortuary records, and protection of suspected burial sites pending forensic examination.
“Families should not be required to produce evidence that exists exclusively within the custody of the institution whose conduct is being questioned,” he said.
On court orders, Nwanguma said: “Security agencies must not treat release, production, compensation, apology or protective orders as optional.”
On remedies, he said: “Access to treatment, family contact or protection must not be conditioned on withdrawing a complaint or abandoning legal proceedings.”
The petition also calls for referral of allegations of checkpoint extortion, including reported use of point-of-sale operators to collect money from motorists, to oversight authorities. It proposes reforms including reliable custody registration, prompt notification of families, early access to counsel, medical screening on admission, independent access to detention sites and a ban on arresting relatives in place of suspects.
RULAAC asked the Attorney-General to acknowledge the petition, designate a senior coordinating official and provide a written initial response within 14 days, without delaying urgent action on missing persons, medical emergencies, unlawful detention and evidence preservation.
Nwanguma acknowledged gaps in the material gathered so far, which he said should not stall the process.
“The materials require careful investigation. Their present gaps should guide the inquiry rather than become a reason to leave families without answers,” he said.
RULAAC said it is ready to share its detailed narrative report, correspondence, the Ngozi judgment and photographed documents on the Egbom case through secure arrangements.
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